Investigator from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG): “Zhu Jiabin, you all harvested the organs of Gao Yixi, where is your conscience?”

Zhu Jiabin, the director of the Integrated Division of 610 Office in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province: “I just know that I can sell these organs after I harvest them; this is how I operate. “If you have the courage, come stand in front of me, and I will also harvest your organs from you. People call me ‘The Butcher’. Next time, the next time you call, don’t use my name, I’ve changed my name, call me ‘The Butcher.’”

The evening of Aug. 25, 2017, more than 150 people watched the English-language premiere of “Harvested Alive – 10 Years of Investigation” at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.

Comments made in the documentary by a 610 Office director who calls himself “The Butcher” drew outraged cries from members of the audience in Melbourne; many people shook their heads, unable to accept the shameless audacity of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official.

The Melbourne premiere was the second screening of the English version of the documentary in the world. It was the first time in Australia that this film has been shown to an entirely English-speaking audience. At the screening venue, no seats were left empty.

“Harvested Alive – 10 Years of Investigation” presents the results of 10 years of investigative work carried out by the WOIPFG into forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience in China. Through extensive first-hand evidence, the documentary shows how forced organ harvesting of practitioners was initiated by former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin and how it is a state-sanctioned crime that involves the Party’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission, military, and judicial departments all working in unison to carry out his directives.

Ninety-five percent of the evidence presented in the documentary comes directly from mainland China, and the sources include Chinese doctors, reports from Chinese media, official websites of Chinese hospitals, Chinese courts of law, the Party’s Politics and Legal Affairs Committee, the “610 Office” (the institution illegally set up by the CCP for the sole purpose of persecuting Falun Gong), a former Central Defense Minister, and five members of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Though multifaceted evidence, the documentary shows that China’s transplantation industry experienced explosive growth in organ transplants since the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999.

After the screening, the documentary’s protagonist Dr Wang Zhiyuan and its director Li Jun, through live web cams, answered various questions raised by members of the audience.

After listening to the Q&A, a member of the audience suggested that everyone present write a letter to their Member of Parliament to ask for a law to ban Australians from traveling to China for organ transplantation and to prohibit organs that originated in China from entering Australia. “We have witnessed today the reality of how the Chinese Communist Party is making money from forced organ harvesting,” he said. His comments were met with enthusiastic applause from the rest of the audience.

Documentary reminds us that the persecution continues

After watching the documentary, chairman of the National Civic Council (NCC) of Australia Peter Westmore said it was a very important documentary and he was delighted attend the premiere.

“It reminds us again of the continuing persecution of Falun Gong in China, but also brings it up to date and shows that this is not a problem from history, from the past, it’s something that continues to the present day,” he said.

“And [it’s] also an encouragement to us in Australia to stand beside the people who have been persecuted and to add our voice to that of others in supporting them, and to say to them that it is not in vain your sacrifices for what you believe in and for the principles that you stand for are very important, not just for China but actually for the whole world.”

Organ harvesting instigator should be put in a mental hospital

Andrew Bush, a senior member of the Liberal Party and human rights activist, said, “They [the CCP] hate anything that is not atheistic, and they hate anything that smacks of spirituality, or religion, but that’s still no reason and no justification for using the practitioners as a means of making money and controlling people, and that’s what they’ve done.

“It is effectively another holocaust.”

“I would like to see every single country that trades with China to simply say to China, ‘As of now we are stopping trade until you stop this practice, because China does understand money.’”

Bush felt that Australians should act.

“If we all write to our local members and suggest that they make it illegal to go to China for an organ, or make it illegal to accept an organ from China, that helps cut off the supply of candidates.

“It’s an horrific situation which never should have been allowed to develop. And whoever thought of it, which is Jiang Zemin, should have been put into a mental health institution for even thinking about it, because it is wrong and that’s my view.”

Glad to be no longer deceived and to learn the truth

Zhang Ying (an alias), a student from Mainland China studying in Australia, was unable to suppress the shock she felt after watching the documentary. She was struggling to come to terms with the fact that she had been fooled by the CCP for so many years. “I was quite shocked just now!” she said. “How can we stop this from happening [organ harvesting]?”

“I am very glad that I have the chance to go abroad and learn the truth.

“I am still quite shocked, and I hope that I have the chance to tell people around me about these stories. And I hope that one day if I can save one person, that to me is a big deal already.”

Laura De Bono, a student in Melbourne majoring in international development, said, “I’ve seen people in the streets talking about this issue before, but I never really investigated much, so I wanted to come along to the screening to learn a bit more about it.”

Bono was frustrated that diplomatic pressure from the international community had seemed to make the organ harvesting issue only more hidden from the general public.

“It’s still ongoing [organ harvesting], so it just made me wonder where the solution is going to come from—maybe more education amongst the public, or some kind of incentive from the government to change their actions,” she said.

Bono said she wanted to help “make more people aware of what is going on in China, and certainly discourage anyone from thinking about going over there for organ transplants.” Bono said she would continue to monitor developments.

Stefan Schneider, a computer programmer, said that he had heard of the CCP harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners. He had seen people handing out flyers on the streets of Melbourne, and read materials regarding organ harvesting, but he had not investigated the matter deeply prior to seeing the documentary.

“Like a lot of people, I was hoping it was a low-level criminal, some low levels in the government doing it, but it sounds like it moves quite high up in the scale which is distressing,” he said.

“It does sound more difficult because of that high level of corruption, so it really does need to be a government pressure thing,” he said.

“The really good thing to do is to write to your Member of Parliament and to tell them that you don’t want Chinese organs coming into Australia while this problem exists and you don’t want Australians to be allowed to go to China to get organs harvested, and this way you can cut off at least the financial incentive for people to participate in the practise.”

Leon, a university lecturer, hoped that he could help those who have been persecuted by the CCP. “We all have a responsibility for humanity, a responsibility about the philosophy of morality. We need to look after each other and love each other, and help each other. We need to stand up for justice, for freedom, and democracy,” he said.

”We need to speak out,” he said.

The Australian Government should stand out and make the right choice

The organizer of this screening, Australian branch of Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting Leigh Smith said that this state-sanctioned crime of organ harvesting is happening in China, that it has the tacit approval and involvement of the government and military, and that it is the most spine-chilling thing that has happened in this world.

“Kind people are being slaughtered,” she said. “When we hear that these people are having their organs harvested while alive, sometimes even without the use of anesthesia, they are being operated on while screaming in pain, this is simply inconceivable. That this kind of heinous crime is still happening in today’s world, this is simply appalling.

“We should urge the Australian government to stand out and voice out, and make the right choice. When faced with such evil, if people still remain silent, what more will it take before they will act? When will you act?” Smith said.